American
Geological Institute

Government Affairs Program SPECIAL UPDATE

New Faces in Congressional and Administration Leadership

(2-10-01)

This update was originally sent out as an e-mail message to AGI's
member societies.

IN A NUTSHELL: With Cabinet confirmations complete and congressional
committee chairs chosen, the dust is starting to settle in Washington.
Many of the key players on issues affecting the geosciences have changed
in both Congress and the Administration. This special update provides a
snapshot of the new leaders. Freshly confirmed Secretaries of the
Interior and Energy are in place along with the new EPA Administrator,
but virtually all non-Cabinet level appointments are still waiting to be
filled, including the president's science advisor. In the House of Representatives,
a six-year term limit for committee chairs, set in 1995 when Republicans
gained the majority has taken effect, resulting in a sizeable turnover.
The Senate has experience less change in terms of committee chairs, but
the even split between the parties has led to numerous shifts in committee
procedures and assignments.

**********************

January was an active month for musical chairs in Washington. President
Bush and his transition team focused their early efforts on getting the
Cabinet in place and confirmed, a process that was completed February 1st
with the confirmation of Attorney General John Ashcroft. Bush announced
his intentions for many of the Cabinet slots well before his inauguration
on January 20th, and a number of Senate confirmation hearings had already
taken place before Bush was sworn in as president. Of particular interest
to the geosciences are Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton, Secretary
of Energy Spencer Abraham, and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman.

But the transition is far from over, and many other positions important
to the geoscience community have yet to be filled. The new administration
is still full of Clinton holdovers serving on an acting basis while the
White House Office of Presidential Appointments -- headed by Deputy Chief
of Staff Clay Johnson -- runs nominations through arduous background checks.
For example, Norton is the only appointment at the Department of the Interior
with the rest of the political hierarchy still in flux.

No action has taken place on the president's science advisor, who also
serves as Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology
Policy. Bush has not announced his intended leadership for many federal
agencies of interest to the geoscience, including the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Many scientific organizations have
been encouraging the administration to fill these positions quickly so
that science funding will be a priority in the president's first budget
request later this spring. Two key science leaders who have been re-appointed
are U.S. Geological Survey Director Charles "Chip" Groat and National Science
Foundation Director Rita Colwell. NASA Administrator Dan Goldin (appointed
in 1992 by the first President Bush) has also been retained, but it is
not clear for how long.

Cabinet Positions

Before becoming Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton spent eight years
as Attorney General of Colorado. She served in the Reagan Administration
as the Interior Department's Associate Solicitor. Often described as a
protege of then-Secretary of the Interior James Watt, Norton was supported
by property rights groups and opposed by environmental groups. The Senate
confirmed her nomination on January 30th in a 74-25 vote. A bio is available
at http://www.doi.gov/secretary/.

New Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is a former Senator from Michigan
who was defeated in the November elections. As a senator, Abraham
supported legislation to help boost domestic petroleum production, to speed
up development of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal site, and to
eliminate the department that he now heads. Several of his former colleagues
stated in his confirmation hearing that he has his work cut out for him
by taking over the helm of an agency that many in Congress see as over-extended
with a poorly defined mission. He was unanimously confirmed. A bio is available
at http://www.energy.gov/aboutus/history/abraham.html.

Also unanimously confirmed was former New Jersey Governor Christine
Todd Whitman to head the Environmental Protection Agency. During
her tenure as governor, Whitman worked to balance environmental protection
with economic interests. She endorses voluntary compliance by industry
instead of top-down regulatory enforcement. At her confirmation hearing,
she said: "We will offer the carrot first, but we will not retire the stick."
A bio is available at http://www.epa.gov/adminweb/about.htm.

President Bush has nominated campaign manager Joe Allbaugh as the Director
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a position that President Clinton
gave Cabinet status. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will
hold a confirmation hearing for Allbaugh on February 13th.

House of Representatives

When Republicans took control of the House of Representatives at the
start of the 104th Congress in 1995, one of their first reforms was to
establish six-year term limits for committee chairs. With those six years
up in 2001, a few committee chairs sought waivers -- most notably Judiciary
Committee chair Henry Hyde (R-IL) -- but the House leadership turned them
down. As a result, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has traded his chairmanship
of the House Science Committee for the top slot on Judiciary, opening up
his old job for moderate New York Republican Rep. Sherwood Boehlert. The
Science Committee has jurisdiction over several key geoscience-related
agencies and programs, including NASA, NSF, DOE research programs, the
National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP), and the U.S. Global
Change Research Program (USGCRP). Boehlert has pledged to increase the
committee's profile and, by extension, the profile of science in Congress.
His initial focus will be on science education, energy policy, and the
environment with a series of hearings planned for March. New subcommittee
chairs include former research physicist Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI) atop the
Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards; and Rep. Roscoe
Bartlett (R-MD), who holds a doctorate in physiology, atop the Subcommittee
on Energy. Returning are Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Dana
Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Research Subcommittee Chairman Nick Smith (R-MI).
More at http://www.house.gov/science/.

Rep. James Hansen (R-UT) will take over the chairmanship of the House
Resources Committee with former chair Rep. Don Young (R-AK) staying on
as Vice-Chairman. Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-WY) will continue as chair of the
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
is the new chair of the Subcommittee on Water and Power; Rep. Joel Hefley
(R-CO) will chair the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public
Lands; Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) will chair the Subcommittee on Fisheries
Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans; and committee newcomer Rep. Scott McInnis
(R-CO) will chair the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health.
Rep. Nick Joe Rahall (D-WV) has been announced as the new Ranking Minority
Member on the committee. More at http://www.house.gov/resources/.

Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) chairs the renamed Energy and Commerce Committee
(a return to its former name, which was shortened in the 104th Congress
to just Commerce). The name change reflects a shift in jurisdiction to
focus more on energy policy and environmental regulations. Subcommittee
jurisdiction and names have also shifted in the transition. Rep.
Joe Barton (R-TX) chairs the renamed Energy and Air Quality (formerly Energy
and Power) Subcommittee, which has authority over a range of topics including
national energy policy, nuclear energy and waste, the Clean Air Act, and
electricity deregulation. Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-OH) now chairs the
Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee. More at http://www.house.gov/commerce/.

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) takes over as chairman of the Education and
the Workforce Committee after edging out the more Rep. Thomas Petri (R-WI)
despite Petri's greater seniority. Rep. Michael Castle (R-DE) chairs
the Subcommittee on
Education Reform, which faces the challenge of reauthorizing the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act that was not completed in the last Congress.

In the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Bill Young (R-FL) will remain
chairman of the committee, but the subcommittee chairs have played musical
chairs. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-OH) moves from the Interior Subcommittee
-- where he was a long-standing champion of the USGS -- to the more powerful
Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Subcommittee. Rep.
Joe Skeen (R-NM) moves from the Agriculture Subcommittee to the Interior
Subcommittee. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) will take over as chair of the
Commerce-Justice Subcommittee (jurisdiction over NOAA). Rep. Sonny
Callahan (R-AL) will replace Rep. Ron Packard as chairman of the Energy
and Water Subcommittee (DOE). Rep. James Walsh (R-NY) will remain
as chair of the VA-HUD Subcommittee (NSF, NASA, EPA). More at http://www.house.gov/appropriations/.

Senate

Without six-year term limits, most Senate committees have the same leadership
they had in the 106th Congress. But the power-sharing deals brokered in
response to the 50-50 party split mean that committees will conduct their
business in new ways. Committees have equal representation of Republicans
and Democrats, and both the chair and the ranking Democrat will have the
authority to bring legislation to the floor for debate and vote, a right
that had previously been available only to the chair.

Although few full committee chairs changed, quite a few subcommittee
chairs have new occupants. In the Appropriations Committee, the defeat
of Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA) opened up the chairmanship of the Interior
and Related Agencies Subcommittee, which is now headed by Sen. Conrad Burns
(R-MT). Three senators join the committee: Mike DeWine (R-OH), Tim Johnson
(D-SD), and Mary Landrieu (D-LA). More at http://www.senate.gov/~appropriations/.

Over at the Senate Commerce, Science, And Transportation Committee,
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) is the new chair of the Subcommittee on Science,
Technology, and Space, which has jurisdiction over NSF, NASA, NEHRP, and
USGCRP. More at http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has Sen. Harry
Reid (D-NV) as the new Ranking Minority Member, along with five other new
faces to the committee: Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO), Tom Carper (D-DE),
Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), and Arlen Specter (R-PA). More
at http://www.senate.gov/~epw/.

Special update prepared by Margaret Baker and David Applegate, AGI
Government Affairs Program

Sources: American Geophysical Union Alert 01-02, EENews, U.S. House
or Representative website, U.S. Senate website, and The Washington Post.